Forasmuch then as the
children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part
of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of
death, that is, the devil. (Heb 2:14)
What does this text mean? Does it mean, as
some Christadelphians do, that “Satan” was destroyed/killed at the cross (in
support of their rejection of an external, supernatural Devil)? No. Firstly,
note that καταργηση is an aorist subjunctive showing that there is a
progression of the subduing of Satan. This started on the cross (John 12:31)
but is waiting completion at the end of time (Rev 20:11-15). As a result, Satan
still has power of physical death at the moment (John 8:44; 1 Cor 15:26; 2 Cor
4:44), but no longer has the power of spiritual death over us if we are
faithful to Christ (Matt 22:32; John 5:24; Rom 6:9, 13; 2 Cor 5:8).
In terms of the Jewish background to the
idea of Satan and the power of death being “brought to nought” or “abolished” (καταργέω),
Edward Langton wrote that:
By the writer of the
Epistle to the Hebrews the purport of Christ’s incarnation is said to be that ‘through
death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil’ (214). This is the only passage in the New Testament which
directly ascribes ‘the power of death’ to the devil. In the non-canonical
Jewish literature, however, there are several passages which throw light upon
the writer’s meaning. In the Book of Wisdom, for instance, it is said
that ‘by the envy of the devil death entered into the world’ (224 .
. . the passage definitely ascribes the power of inflicting death to the devil.
The ‘Angel of Death’ is a very prominent conception in the Testament of
Abraham. In this work, however, he is conceived of as acting directly under
the control of God, as Satan does in the Book of Job. He is sent by God
to fetch the soul of Abraham. But in the Rabbinical writings we find the
concept of Sammael (Satan) as the ‘Angel of Death’ (see e.g. Bereshit Rabba xix;
Pirké de Rabbi Eliezer xiii; Targ. of Jer. On Genesis 34
and 22; Debarim Rabba xi; T.B. Aboda Zarah 20b). (Edward Langton,
Essentials of Demonology: A Study of Jewish and Christian Doctrine, Its
Origin and Development [Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 1949], 200-1)
Interestingly, this is admitted to by Duncan
Heaster in his The Real Devil, the
most sustained defence of Christadelphian demonology and Satanology:
Paul And Jewish Writings
Much of
Paul's writing is understandable on various levels. In some places he makes
allusions to contemporay Jewish writings and ideas- with which he was obviously
very familiar given his background- in order to correct or deconstruct them.
This is especially true with reference to Jewish ideas about Satan and
supposedly sinful Angels ruling over this present world (6). As more and more
Jewish writings of the time become more widely available, it becomes
increasingly apparent that this is a major feature of Paul's writing. The
Jewish writings all held to the teaching of the two ages, whereby this current
age was supposed to be under the control of Satan and his angels, who would be
destroyed in the future age, when Messiah would reign and Paradise would be
restored on earth (see 1 Enoch 16.1; 18.16; 21.6; Jubilees 1.29; T. Moses 1.18;
12.4). Paul frequently uses terms used in the Jewish writings concerning the
Kingdom age, the eschatological age, and applies them to the experience of
Christian believers right now. When Heb. 2:14 states that Christ killed
the Devil in His death on the cross, this is effectively saying that the future
age has come. For the Jews expected the Devil to be destroyed only at the
changeover to the future Kingdom age. In 4 Ezra, "This age" (4.27; 6.9;
7.12), also known as the "corrupt age" (4.11) stands in contrast to
the "future age" (6.9; 8.1), the "greater age", the
"immortal time" (7.119), the future time (8.52). 4 Enoch even claims
that the changeover from this age to the future age occurs at the time of the
final judgment, following the death of the Messiah and seven days of silence
(7.29-44, 113). So we can see why Paul would plug in to these ideas. He taught
that Christ died "in order to rescue us from this present evil age"
(Gal. 1:4; Rom 8:38; 1 Cor 3:22). Therefore if the old age has finished, that
means Satan is no longer controlling things as the Jews believed. For they
believed that Satan's spirits "will corrupt until the day of the great
conclusion, until the great age is consummated, until everything is concluded
(upon) the Watchers and the wicked ones" (1 Enoch 16:1, cf. 72:1). And
Paul was pronouncing that the great age had been consummated in Christ, that
the first century believers were those upon whom the end of the aion had
come (1 Cor. 10:11). (pp. 44-45)
For more, see Thomas Farrar’s discussion
of the Satanology of Hebrews: